Ymca's Rebirth Spurs New Hope, Old Memories

The Bronzeville Neighborhood Celebrates The Restoration Of The Wabash Avenue Building That Gave Civil Rights Leaders A Place To Meet And Newcomers A Place To Start.

April 01, 2001|By Heather Vogell, Tribune staff reporter.

In 1940s Chicago, the Wabash Avenue YMCA was the only such club in the city where Shirley Jackson felt welcome.

She learned to play cards in the South Side brick building, where civil rights leaders also gathered, newcomers sought shelter and the Bronzeville neighborhood found an anchor.

On Saturday, Jackson joined church leaders and city officials in celebrating the building's rescue from crippling disrepair and its rebirth as a community center.

"It's almost unbelievable," she said after a tour of the building's freshly painted interior.

Considered the birthplace of Black History Month, the institution at 3763 S. Wabash Ave. played a great role in the city's history, Mayor Richard Daley said at the ceremony. He praised the churches that led the project.

"This is an example of rebuilding the community," Daley said. "It's just not a building itself, but it has a history [and] all the supportive services."

Once known as the "Colored `Y,'" the five-story structure now has a new name: the Renaissance Apartments & Fitness Life Center.

Along with a renovated gym and pool, it houses 101 one-room apartments with kitchenettes and bathrooms. Rents are subsidized and range from zero to $464 a month for tenants who include recovering substance abusers, the disabled and people struggling to get back on their feet.

The building had become so run-down after closing in 1981 that the city once placed it on a list for demolition. The rehabilitation was financed by about $10.4 million in mostly public funds and was spearheaded by The Renaissance Collaborative, a consortium of churches.

The new center has computer labs, meeting rooms and social service offices. The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago will also run programs there. A historic mural in an old second-floor ballroom is being restored.

The YMCA building has a place in African-American history. More than 70 years ago, historian and author Carter G. Woodson and friends conceived of Negro History Week--which evolved into Black History Month--while there.

In its heyday, the YMCA also was visited by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., said Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd).

"We met here during the civil rights movement," Tillman said. "Everything that was important to the black community was here."

Rev. Darryl F. James of Messiah-St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Chicago said a member of his church recalled staying there after moving to the city.

"This was like a way station for people," James said. "It was affordable, it was available; this is where many people made their start."

John Stenson, 66, said he came to play at the YMCA as a child in the 1940s. He was thrilled to see the center reopen.

"As far as recreation, this was the only place for us to go," he said. "To keep this here is a dream come true."